New Illinois Numeracy Plan Urges Districts to Address Students’ Missing Math Skills
July 21, 2026
State framework names prerequisite skill gaps as a central challenge in math—and points districts toward diagnosing and addressing them.
NEW YORK (July 21, 2026) -New Classrooms Innovation Partners commends the Illinois State Board of Education on the adoption of its Comprehensive Numeracy Plan, a statewide framework to strengthen math learning for every student. New Classrooms submitted formal public comment during the plan’s development.
Most math interventions re-teach grade-level content without addressing the specific gaps in foundational skills that keep students from mastering it. Because math is cumulative, those unaddressed gaps compound year over year. The Illinois plan takes a different stance, directing districts toward instruction that meets students where they are while keeping them on a path to grade-level mastery.
“For too long, our system has asked teachers to help students catch up with one of two strategies: more grade-level instruction or broad remediation of everything they may have missed. Neither approach provides the precise support students need,” said Michael Watson, Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at New Classrooms. “Illinois is pointing districts toward something better: helping students address critical missing predecessor skills that are necessary to master grade-level content, and building coherence across instruction so those supports actually connect. When you get that right, falling behind doesn’t have to mean staying behind.”
New Classrooms highlights five elements of the adopted plan:
- A clear definition of instructional coherence. The plan defines coherence as an instructional program—curriculum, materials, interventions, and assessments—working together toward the same set of grade-level expectations, and threads that principle throughout the framework.
- Diagnostic screening that drives instruction. The plan calls for diagnostic screeners that pinpoint pre-grade and grade-level skill gaps and uses those results to guide targeted and intensive supports, with progress monitoring tied directly to the diagnosis.
- Intervention aimed at prerequisite skill gaps. Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports are directed at the specific prerequisite skills students need for grade-level mastery, aligned to core instruction, rather than simply repeating Tier 1 content.
- Tailored Acceleration. The same diagnostic approach identifies students ready to move ahead—including those prepared for advanced coursework such as Algebra in middle school—so that meeting students where they are never means holding them back and ensuring that any missing prerequisite skills are addressed.
- Evaluation of core and supplemental materials. The plan’s curriculum-review guidance directs districts to evaluate both core and supplemental materials, recognizing that intervention tools must align with core instruction to be effective.
“Math is the subject where falling behind compounds fastest, and where the system has done the least to help students recover,” said Joel Rose, Co-Founder and CEO of New Classrooms. “Illinois is setting an example of how to solve this problem that other states can follow.”
About New Classrooms Innovation Partners
Founded in 2011, New Classrooms Innovation Partners is a national nonprofit working to move math education beyond the one-size-fits-all model that leaves too many students behind. New Classrooms develops learning solutions that meet students where they are and connect them to where they need to be, and advocates for policies that make student-centered teaching possible. Its Teach to One learning solutions serve thousands of students nationwide, advancing a broader aim: a student-centered educational paradigm designed so that every student can build a foundation for lifelong success. To learn more, visit www.newclassrooms.org.
Contact: Jacob Waters
Senior Director of Communications
jwaters@newclassrooms.org
609-658-8147